What does "wellness" mean? How can individuals and social contexts, including law, physical environments, and policy, contribute to the prevention, detection, and control of disease? Students in this introductory course will explore historic and contemporary approaches to diverse public health issues. Upon successful completion of this course, students will understand basic public health principles, prominent frameworks in the discipline, and applications of best practices in communities.

This course introduces students to key global health principles pertaining to the identification, intervention, and evaluation of both small- and large-scale public health problems around the world. Social, cultural, economic, and political implications of global health actions are considered and analyzed. Students will practice identifying health disparities, constructing a historically rooted analysis of the public health problem and drafting evidence-based proposals for intervention, emphasizing cooperative public health models.

May also be offered at the 390 level.

This course embraces multiple aspects of community-based, interdisciplinary research. Prior to beginning research projects, students will learn about the changing demographics of Guilford County including refugees and underserved populations. They will also receive training in anti-racism and cultural competency to prepare students for working with community members. Through community outreach efforts, students will be involved in the formation and implementation of focus groups and community events to build trusting relationships with community members as well as to identify and assess community needs. Students will work with faculty and student leaders to design, implement and evaluate a community-based research project. Projects will address current community concerns ranging from access to health care to medical and nutritional needs. This instruction will help in the promotion of effective, focused research and will prepare students for developing sustainable relationships with the targeted community

This course examines population-based health determinants and health disparities using epidemiologic methods. Students will learn about screening, disease surveillance, and outbreak investigation in the context of contemporary social issues. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analytic measures will be used to explore the public health issues covered in this course.

Represents one of three options for the experiential learning requirement in the major. A written senior thesis may be undertaken as the culmination of independent study or relevant Collaborative Quest (Apply/Contribute) project. The senior thesis must represent independent thought and is designed and conducted under the supervision of a faculty member. Recommended for students planning to attend graduate school.